Thousands of patients received sub-par colonoscopies from same doctor
A doctor suspended for professional misconduct oversaw thousands of flawed colonoscopies, with nearly 2,000 patients told to repeat their procedures.
Between 2018 and 2022, over 1,900 patients received sub-par colonoscopies performed or supervised by Dr Liu-Ming Schmidt, leading to 1,934 patients across three health services to have their procedures repeated. Of the 1,084 patients who underwent repeat colonoscopies, 548 had polyps and seven had cancer. Lynette Taylor, whose mother died after receiving a colonoscopy from Dr Schmidt, trusted the doctor due to her family's history of bowel cancer.
Despite her mother's all-clear following a 2021 colonoscopy, Lynette began experiencing rapid weight loss and fatigue two years later, eventually diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer. An independent expert found that the size of the cancer detected in 2023 likely stemmed from a missed polyp during the 2021 procedure. Another patient of Dr Schmidt was also diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2022 after a short colonoscopy.
Dr Schmidt was found guilty of professional misconduct and suspended for six months in July, but the suspension is deemed insufficient by her patients' families.
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